


When You Wish Upon a Stars

by Random_Scribbling



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fight Scene, Fusion, Inspired by a YouTube video, Stars, because this needs to happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 07:46:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13185537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Scribbling/pseuds/Random_Scribbling
Summary: Inspired by this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l2_VtXd9-sA calm day for Steven and the doughnut crew turns into an accidental fusion and a monster fight. Because innocent cinnamon rolls can't just have a nice day. Post Stevonnie, but before the conflict with Homeworld really picks back up. May be expanded slightly if there's interest or if the plot bunnies don't leave me alone.





	When You Wish Upon a Stars

It’s one of those rare days when the doughnut shop is closed; the sun is shining, and Steven has dragged Lars and Sadie out from a horror movie marathon in favor of spending the day on the beach. Greg’s old boom box has been dragged out, and the three are panting on the sand, hot and a little sunburnt and enjoying the music mixed with the sound of the waves. As the last song fades out a faster, peppy beat comes on, with just enough guitar that Lars smiles appreciatively. The teen idly taps one hand on his thigh, bobbing his head to the beat, and a couple feet away Steven is swaying slightly in his seat as he tries to resist the tune. He fails. The black-haired boy gives in and jumps to his feet with a grin, bopping and grooving to the song with near-graceful flailing arms and shuffling feet. Lars grimaces as he ducks sand, and Sadie laughs. Steven laughs with them and dances some more. Lars cocks an eyebrow, impressed. For all that it looks awkward with his short, little-kid limbs, the kid’s not half bad, and even has some moves. He’s relaxed, the music is good, and Lars relaxes enough to sway a little himself. And then there’s a pudgy hand in his face and Steven is beaming at him.

“Dance with me!” Steven wiggles his fingers enticingly. Lars hesitates, glancing up and down the empty beach, and Sadie is smiling, too.

“Do it, Lars!” She encourages, and really, what’s the harm?

“I’m not that good,” he tries to warn Steven, but the boy isn’t deterred, eagerly taking Lars’ awkwardly offered hand and hauling the taller boy to his feet.

“That’s okay, I’m not great either,” Steven starts moving to the beat again, a simple step and a shimmy of his arms that he repeats, eyes fixed expectantly on Lars. The teen rolls his eyes and clumsily starts to mimic Steven, adjusting slightly and leaving space for his longer limbs. And Steven is laughing, ecstatic.

“You’ve got it!” He grins, eyes shining, and Lars is able to smile back. The ever-present anxiety has dropped off, barely an itch at the back of his mind, and he’s actually dancing. Awkward, simple dancing, but he’s doing it. Lars’ smile stretches and he throws in an extra bit of flair to the shimmy. Steven mimics him, and suddenly it’s a little less of a dance and more of a game. Lars changes the dance, just a little, and Steven copies, the boy adding another step that Lars will mimic. Neither male notices Sadie lean over and press repeat on the boom box, keeping the song going. Lars and Steven are circling each other, inching imperceptibly closer, and Lars is stepping around Steven’s stomping feet before he even realizes how close they’ve gotten. Steven is laughing and smiling up at him, a bright little ball of sunshine, and Lars has taken a break from being moody and anxious and is grinning downwards, something warm and content rising in his chest. The pink glow of Steven’s gem in unnoticeable in the bright sun.

When it happens, there’s no warning.

Steven sways back just a little too far, losing his balance for all of a second and falling towards the sand. They’re so in sync that Lars doesn’t even hesitate, reaching out and snagging the boy out of the air without even pausing to think about it, and then they’re… Them.

_Warm, like a campfire, like the sun, like a star…_

_Steven? Lars?_

_Stars?_

The figure, one where there had been two, stumbles forward as momentum shifts, blinking in surprise as they find their balance. Going from a little over five feet tall (or a little over four) to around seven feet is strange, and it takes them a second to make sure that they’re not about to faceplant into the sand. And then they look themselves over in shock. It’s a good thing they were both barefoot, because there’s no way Lars or Steven’s shoes would have fit, big feet leading up to strong legs. Lars’ pants and Steven’s jeans seem to have blended into jeans ripped slightly at the knees, and the new being gapes at the long, strong arms ending in broad hands. The fused shirt is Lars’ preferred navy, but with Steven’s signature star in the center, and a quick swipe of a hand over their ears reveals that they’ve kept Lars’ gauges, though those now have stars in the center of them, too. Blunt fingers tentatively run over their hair, pulling a few strands down to their eyes to check the color. It’s slightly longer on the sides than Lars normally wears it, maybe of half inch of dark red fluff on the sides and back of their head, but the top is long and seems to have kept Steven’s curls; it poofs out into a natural pompadour, and they can’t help but run their fingers through it in wonder. They feel…good. Almost natural, next to at home in this strange, much bigger skin, and they’re almost used to the sensation of being not-quite-one when a shocked voice squeaks, “Lars?!”

They glance up from their body, startled, and back down. Sadie is gaping up at them, eyes wide with shock and a little bit of fear, and it’s instinctive to flinch back, to curl broad shoulders inward, and they feel panic rising.

_Sadie! Oh no, I/We can’t be seen like this!_

_What’s wrong with you/me/us?_

_Exposed, she’ll see, I/we have to hide, have to get away—_

And they fall apart, vanishing as quickly as they appeared as Lars and Steven fall to the sand. Steven lays there for a second, stunned, before the reality of what just happened hits him. He jerks up, smiling, again, and freezes. Lars landed on his back, staring up at the sky for a blink, before a wordless cry erupted from his throat and he flailed, scrambling to get to his feet, to get back and away from where Steven and Sadie are looking at him in confusion. He’s trembling as he gets to his feet, mind still jumbled, and Lars does the only thing he knows how to do when everything seems to be closing in. He runs. Steven and Sadie both call after him, but Lars ignores them, ignores the sand slipping under bare feet, and tries to ignore the memories clamoring for attention in his mind. He has to ignore them, he has to, or else he’ll go back, lured in by a half-there memory of _warmth_ and _acceptance,_ the simplicity of a movie-night with Sadie when everything he’s scared of seems as far away as the stars. Stars. That had been his name, their name, hadn’t it? A cross between a laugh and a sob works its way out of Lars’ throat, and he stumbles slightly. Lars glances down to find his footing, and then back up.

“Holy--!” Lars bites off a curse and stumbles back, almost falling into the shifting sand. Directly in front of him is a lion, big fluffy mane and big sharp teeth and holy crap why is it pink?!

“Lion!” Steven’s voice makes him flinch, and Lars edges away as Steven passes. The boy leaps up to hug the beast around the neck, not the slightest bit worried about irritating the enormous predator. And Lars vaguely remembers hearing about Steven owning a pet lion but he’d brushed it off as the usual Steven strangeness. At least the animal is distracting Steven, so maybe if he stays quiet—

“Lars,” a hand on his elbow makes him jump, and Lars flinches away from Sadie in a way that he hasn’t since they first started working together. The blonde flinches too, pulling her hand back, but Sadie gently herds him a short distance away from where Steven seems to be talking to the lion.

“Are you okay?” She asks cautiously.

“No!” Lars snaps, wrapping his arms around himself, hating how he trembles.

“Yes,” he admits, looking away, brain scrambled. For all the confusion he feels…good. Settled in his skin, the buzz of anxiety distant, though he’s not sure that trading nerves for confusion is worth it ( ~~yes it is~~ ).

“I don’t know,” he settles on, dropping one arm and shifting just enough that Sadie knows she’s welcome to throw an arm around his waist. She squeezes him tight, a comforting warmth. Warmth almost like… Lars heaves a sigh and runs one hand through his hair (lighter, thinner).

“What…what was that?” He looks over at Sadie, but she looks just as baffled as he does. Both of them look up at the sound of shifting sand. Steven stumbles over, his Lion behind him, and he looks ashamed and sad and just a little in awe.

“I…” Steven twiddles his fingers, avoiding Lars’ eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and bracing himself.

“I’m really sorry,” he apologizes, “I didn’t know that would happen until it did.”

“What was that?” Lars demands. Steven fidgets a bit more, before sitting down in the sand. Lars and Sadie follow suite.

“It’s called fusion,” Steven explains, “It’s like, having a conversation? Or kind of like dancing?” The kid fidgets and starts over. “It’s a gem thing. We were in sync, and when you caught me we just kind of…” He trails off and holds up his hands, clapping them together and half-linking his fingers. Sadie and Lars look at each other, a bit confused and concerned. That sounds like…

“I’ve done it with my friend Connie before,” Steven continues, and Lars feels a bit better. “We fuse to fight, or to eat doughnuts sometimes, and once we even fused to win race!” Steven grins, and then becomes more serious.

“My point is, fusion is a good thing. It’s what happened when gems, and people, are in tune with each other. With Connie and me it’s because we’re friends, and we both want to race, or dance, or eat doughnuts, so that’s what Stevonnie wants to do to. And I guess with us…” Steven trails off.

“I caught you,” Lars picks up, his confusion fading as he lets himself remember. “You were falling, so I wanted to catch you. And…” Lars hesitates. “I wanted to keep dancing.”

Steven is beaming, relieved, and Sadie is a little more relaxed as well.

“I liked dancing, too!” Steven grins up at Lars before his smiles fades again. “Still, I didn’t mean to force a fusion on you, and I’m sorry,” Steven apologizes again, and holds out a hand.

“Still friends?” Lars eyes him for a minute before rolling his eyes and taking Steven’s hand.

“Sure, whatever,” Lars lets his face twist in a warped smile. Sadie leans against him for a second in another half-hug before scrambling to her feet.

“I think we could all use a drink,” she says. “I’ll go get the boombox and we can all head back to the doughnut for a soda.”

“Sounds good,” Lars’ smile is a bit more genuine when he looks up at Sadie, and the blonde jogs off back down the beach. Lars and Steven both get to their feet, both a bit clumsy, and Lars eyes the huge pink animal still looking over Steven’s shoulder.

“So,” he cocks an eyebrow curiously. “What’s with the lion?”

“Oh, this is my pet Lion!” Steven grins, reaching up to pet the pink mane. “He wanders around a lot, but whenever I really need him he shows up right on time.”

“Huh,” Lars looks at the animal again, closer, and sees a spark of…something that makes him turn quickly back to Steven. “So if he shows up when there’s trouble, why’s he here now?”

Steven blinks up at him for a second before all the blood drains from his face. A half-second later a high-pitched scream splits the air and both boys jerk.

“Sadie!” Lars shouts and starts running. Steven climbs onto Lion’s back and they run up beside Lars. “Climb on!” Steven offers Lars a hand up, hauling the taller teen up behind him as they race off down the beach. Around a hill in the sand and they’re just in time to see Sadie shriek again as a giant monster lifts her up in one tentacle. It’s bright purple and shaped something like an octopus, if an octopus had one glaring eye that glinted like a gem and ten writhing tentacles and was as big as the doughnut shop.

“Sadie!” Lars yells. He jumps off Lion as it slides to a stop and then freezes. He doesn’t know what to do; this thing is huge, and he doesn’t even have a pocket knife on him, let alone a weapon that would do any good against this thing, but it has Sadie and even though he’s so scared he’s shaking he can’t just run away!

“Lars!” Steven’s voice breaks through the fog of panic, and Lars looks up. Steven is standing by him, a hand on his hip, and he can see the Lion harrying the giant octopus thing, keeping it distracted from the screaming blonde still held in one tentacle.

“Lars, I need your help,” Steven pleads. “The Gems are away, there’s no way they’ll get here in time, and I can’t defeat this thing on my own.”

A rock of dread drops into Lars’ gut, and he knows what Steven is going to ask when the boy looks up at him, distressed.

“I won’t force you, but I need your help! Please, fuse with me!”

“You want to become that… _thing_ again?” Lars waffles, ignoring Steven’s wince at the word ‘thing’. He looks from Steven to Sadie and back again. For an endless moment, Steven honestly thinks that Lars will refuse, that the older boy will run away and leave him to fight the monster as best he can. With Lion he might be able to do it, but probably not before it’s gotten away with Sadie, or hurt her.

“Are you willing to try?” Steven asks, holding out his hand. And despite all odds, Lars’ hand meets his, a spark of determination in Lars’ eyes. The older teen may be scared out of his mind, absolutely terrified of losing himself in that blend of I/you/us, but if it’s for Sadie, he’ll try. He’d do anything for her. Steven beams up at him, takes the time to say, “Thanks!”

And then the shorter boy tugs him forward, into him, and Lars is falling.

Stars blinks, not waking up per say, but becoming aware once more. The tall person looks up at the monster that has Sadie, and Lion gets batted away by a tentacle. Lion lands on his paws a few feet away and glances over at Stars. The fusion smiles grimly.

“Want some help?” They offer, and Lion nods. Stars throws one leg over Lion, sitting on his back. The octopus, no longer under attack, starts to lurch for the water. Sadie shouts again, fighting the thing’s grip. Stars draws on their power, and a shield forms on their arm, pink and decorated with a swirl of thorny vines. It’s still Rose’s shield, Steven’s shield, but the sun glints off a razor-sharp edge. A smirk rises onto Stars’ face, and they’re careful to hold the shield away as Lion sprints for the octopus.

_Are you ready?_

_Oh yeah._

“Hey Scrub!” The monster pauses at the battle cry, and the hesitation is enough for Stars to leap off of Lion and bring the shield around. A single slice is enough to sever the tentacle holding Sadie, and she yelps as she falls towards the ground. Lion intercepts her, bearing the woman a short distance away. Stars lands only a few feet away from the base of the monster, staring up into that crystal eye. They bring the shield up and leap, smashing it into the gem’s surface. The monster shrieks, lashes out, and Stars is able to dodge the tentacles, launching high off of one. They’re soaring, nearly a dozen feet over the head of the huge monster, and as gravity takes hold they take the shield from their arm and brace it between their palms.

“Paws OFF!” Stars shouts as they descend like a vengeful blade, the sharp edge of the shield cutting directly into the head of the monster. There’s a moment of resistance, and then a jarring absence as the monster retreats into its gem. Stars is still falling, but they’re not worried. Steven’s done this before. They angle their body, diving headfirst for the falling gem, and manage to catch it just before they hit the ground. Stars flips and lands on the beach in a cloud of dust, falling to one knee to absorb the impact. The square gem is held tight in their palm, and Stars carefully bubbles all that remains of the monster.

“Steven! Lars!” Sadie shouts, running for them, and Stars glances over their shoulder as they get to their feet, grinning triumphantly.

“Not quite,” they shrug, ducking their head bashfully, but Sadie still sees the smile on their face.

“We did it!” They say, eagerly showing her the bubbled gem, and Sadie beams.

“Yeah! That was great!” She congratulates them. Stars straightens a little under the praise.

“You’re okay?” They ask, and a wave of relief rushes over them when Sadie shakes her head.

“I’m fine, just a little shaken. What about you?”

“Not a scratch on me,” Stars brags, spreading their arms in demonstration, and Sadie takes the time to really look them over. Tall, taller than Lars, and way more muscular, but that’s Steven’s smile and Lars’ style.

“So what do I call you?” She asks curiously.

“We’re Stars,” they introduce immediately, and then hesitate.

_Just say it, she’ll understand._

_It’s embarrassing! It’s not like it matter all that much, anyway._

_It’s you/me/us, and who you/I/we are can never be embarrassing. You/I/We matter._

_Just watch._

“They and them pronouns,” Stars finishes, smile freezing as they wait for a response. Sadie merely nods.

“Cool!” She looks around the beach, sand tossed around from the monster’s movements. “You wanna help me find the boom box?”

Stars looks caught between shock and amusement and starts to glow, shield and bubble both vanishing as their silhouette deforms and splits. Lars and Steven flop to the sand, a little tired but none the worse for wear.

“Ugh, do we have to look for it? The stupid thing’s probably ruined anyway,” Lars groans, turning his head to look pleadingly at Sadie. She smiles indulgently at him, propping her hands on her hips.

“That boom box has survived worse than this. Remember Sour Cream’s rave last year?” Lars groans again and lurches to his feet.

“Steven, you okay?” Sadie turns her attention to the other boy. He’s been unusually quiet.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steven quickly gets to his feet, voice distracted for a moment.

“Are you sure?” Sadie prods gently, not liking the distant look on Steven’s face as he peers up at her. A beat of quiet, and then Steven is back to his smiling self.

“Yeah, I’m good! I’m pretty sure the boom box was over this way!” And he races off, eyes searching the sand. Sadie looks after him, a little worried, but she forces herself to leave it be. If Steven wants to talk to her, he will. A shout of victory, and Sadie looks up to see Steven and Lars digging in the sand around a patch of familiar grey.

“It looks done for this time!” Lars is almost crowing in victory. A broken boom box means the two of them finding a new one, like that one he’s been eyeing for months that will also hook into her television and blast horror movies at them in surround sound. Sadie grins and heads towards them.

“Oh no it isn’t!”


End file.
